Sikh Student Defends her Beard against Trolls

A Sikh US student's dignified response to an online post making fun of her facial hair has earned her a legion of admirers on the internet.

A Sikh US student's dignified response to an online post making fun of her facial hair has earned her a legion of admirers on the internet.

A man with a Reddit username of 'european_douchebag' took a photo of Balpreet Kaur and uploaded onto Reddit-a social news website, where users submit content.

The picture showing Balpreet standing in a queue was uploaded in the 'funny' category with the tagline 'im not sure what to conclude from this'.

But instead of getting angry or verbally attacking her abuser, Balpreet-an Ohio State University student and an aspiring neurosurgeon posted a dignified response.

Kaur said: "I'm not embarrassed or even humiliated by the attention (negative and positive) that this picture is getting because, it's who I am."

"When I die, no one is going to remember what I looked like, heck, my kids will forget my voice, and slowly, all physical memory will fade away.

However, my impact and legacy will remain: and, by not focusing on the physical beauty, I have time to cultivate those inner virtues and hopefully, focus my life on creating change and progress for this world in any way I can".

She further pointed out that as part of the five Ks that Sikhs follow, one of the tenets is Kesh, which asks that she allows her hair to grow naturally and does not cut it.

Her eloquence and measured reaction earned her many online fans who called her an 'inspiration' and 'awesome'.

The Reddit user who posted the picture was branded 'shallow' and 'rude' for posting her picture.

He then responded by apologising for his behaviour, saying ,"After apologizing and talking with Balpreet I've seen how stupid this post was in the first place isn't funny at all".